Adam Prudhomme
Beaver Sports
Playing for their OASA Eliminations tournament lives on Saturday, the host Canadian Tire U14 Napanee Express battled the Otterville Otters in an epic see-saw extra innings affair.
Unfortunately the home town Express ran out of rally magic in the ninth inning, losing 13-10 to finish the tournament with a 1-2 record and outside the bracket that would have qualified them for Nationals.
“The boys did a great job,” said Express head coach Scott Thompson. “We didn’t get the outcome we were hoping for. We were looking to qualify somewhere but we came up against some tough teams on our way through the bracket. The boys did a great job to push through and I think they gained a lot of respect.”
Early prognostics looked bleak for the Express in their must-win game against the Otters as they fell behind 5-0 after the first inning. At risk of being mercied, the Express bats went to work and erupted with a five run inning of their own in the second.
The Otters continued to pull away but the Express seemingly always had an answer, rallying from a 9-5 hole to knot the score at 9-9 after the regulation seven innings. In extras the Otters posted a pair of runs, only to see Napanee answer right back with a pair of their own to force a ninth inning. This time however the Otters drove in three and then shut down the Express bats in the home half of the inning to hold on for the 13-10 victory.
“They kept coming,” Thompson said of the Express. “We didn’t get the outcome we were looking for but they really showed a lot of strength playing those tough teams and putting in some close games.”
Napanee’s bats were working in their first game as they were all over the Rostock Braves, winning 12-2 on Friday night. That set up an early afternoon meeting with the Tavistock A’s. The Express were unable to really get anything going in that one, losing 9-3 to set up their must win game against Otterville.
“We still hit the ball really well and the boys played good defense,” Thompson said of the final two games. “A couple of bounces either way and we could have ended up on the win side of the column.”
Both Tavistock and Otterville would go on to finish fourth and fifth respectively, finishing behind tournament champions Palmerston. Shallow Lake finished second while Six Nations earned bronze. Napanee’s Connor Brooks, who pitched for the Palmerston Imperials, was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Pitcher, going 4-0, recording a no-hitter and one hitter over the weekend. He picked up 64 strikeouts in 28 innings, allowing just two runs.
Despite the early exit for the Express, Thompson said the young team learned a lot about itself over the Canada Day weekend.
“We realize now that we can play with the best teams in the province,” said Thompson. “Going forward to the provincials, I think it’s going to be a real positive for them.”
The coach says the entire roster stepped up at various times throughout the weekend, whether it was calling on a relief pitcher or subbing in a faster runner to steal a base. Contributions throughout the lineup allowed them to score 25 runs in just three games, an average of 8.3 per ball game. Despite their 1-2 record, they still finished the weekend with a positive run differential, scoring one more run than their pitching staff allowed.
As with any tournament held at the Fairgrounds, the entire weekend was well attended.
The Express will now turn their attention to the U14 provincials, which will take place July 29 in Stouffville. They’ll continue to stay sharp with league games in the Kingston Men’s League.
Softball Napanee’s next major tournament will be July 14-16 when they host the PWSA U14 Novice Girls Eliminations.